Precious Article
by Eternal.Angel
Summary: Cleaning a room floods back precious memories.


September 4, 2007 to September 4, 2007 (REFORMATTED May 9, 2010)

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.  
**Summary:** Cleaning your bedroom brings back memories. Enjoy! _And don't forget to review please!_

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_Precious Article  
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"Neh, Sakuno, what about this?" questioned Tomoka as she took out a pink blouse from her closet, showing it to her best friend, Sakuno. Sakuno got up from her kneeling position and walked towards Tomoka, inspecting the clothing closely.

"That's fine, Tomo-chan," pleasantly answered Sakuno as she walked back to her original spot. Tomoka nodded her head, removed the hanger, and folded the clothing before throwing it into the brown, dusty box. The two girls were cleaning Sakuno's room since her grandmother had requested her to give some of her things for charity. "Besides," Sumire had said, "You have too many things in your room, Sakuno."

"Thank you for helping me today, Tomo-chan. Even though we were supposed to hang out," thanked Sakuno as she hung her head low. Tomoka shook her head and cheerfully replied, "It's nothing, Sakuno! Besides, I want to see what kind of stuff you always put in your closet anyways!" She ran and jumped on her friend, hugging her tightly. Sakuno was slightly intimidated and choked for air.

"Huh, what's this?" asked Tomoka as she saw the corner of something sticking out of another box. She released Sakuno and bent down, digging through the container. Sakuno held onto her throat until she saw what her friend was holding.

"T-tomo-chan!" cried Sakuno as she began blushing a deep red. It was a photo of the celebration at Kawamura Sushi, right after Seigaku went against Fudomine. Shiba, the photographer and partner of Inoue, requested to take a picture with the Echizen Ryoma. However, Momoshiro knocked Sakuno so that she would lie against the cocky freshman while Shiba was out of the picture. And…SNAP! The picture was taken, showing quite a content Sakuno and a confused Ryoma. Tomoka smiled at the photo and laughed silently to herself.

"Ah, Sakuno! I remember this picture! You must have been quite happy, huh?" teased Tomoka as she covered her mouth from a loud outburst.

"Tomo-chan!" shouted Sakuno, louder than before. She leapt forward her friends, sending the both of them tumbling to the floor.

"Ouch…" mumbled the loud cheerleader under her breath as she rubbed her temple. Sakuno got up and rubbed her neck affectionately. Just then, Tomoka noticed a small, badly-wrapped object lying next to Sakuno. She reached forward and picked it up, beginning to unwrap the brown construction paper.

"Wow, Sakuno! Where'd you get this?" asked Tomoka eagerly as she showed Sakuno the recently found item. Sakuno opened one of her eyes and gasped at it, ogling it with disbelief.

It was a rather old doll, with dust collecting on the surface. She stood on a small, plastic podium with red cotton shoes glued to the top. She was dressed in Chinese clothing, with red, red, and more red. From the waistline to her calves, the front part of her pants was intricately designed with flowers of various colors and patterns. Strings of red yarn flowed down from the edge of the quilted pants, streaming and flying if she would have walked. Her blouse was sewn along with the pants, forming a dress. It was a pretty tight dress, and around her waist a white felt belt, designed with roses was strapped. She wore a white undergarment which covered most of her chest, and the outer layer was designed with golden beads and leaf green cloths.

She had lots of makeup on, with a white, pale complexion. The blue eye shadow was conspicuous, and she had on mascara. Her lips were a bright, juicy red, standing out the most on her entire face. She wore red-beaded studs, and her hair was tied into three curls on top of her head, while the rest of her hair cascaded down her back in a ponytail, tied with a red ribbon. The crown of her forehead was pinned with several live and fresh flowers, and two pins with golden chains and a red bead tied at the end were set into her other two buns on the sides. In her right hand, she held a bouquet of red flowers made of red glitter paper and strewn with white pipe cleaners. A red ribbon was tied around the small patch of flowers, holding it up together.

"Sakuno has a lot of stuffed toys, but this! I haven't seen this one before!" exclaimed her friend in fascination.

"Um, that's because it's a really old doll, Tomo-chan. I don't want to hurt it," explained Sakuno in a quiet voice. "Obaa-chan gave it to me when she went to China to hear Okaa-san's will. She had some Chinese blood in her, after all." Sakuno gratefully accepted the China doll and inspected it closely as she cradled it in her hands.

"_**Sakuno. Sakuno," called Sumire. Sakuno trotted out of the living room and looked up at her grandmother. Sumire bent down so that they would be eye-leveled.**_

"_**What is it, Obaa-chcan?" asked Sakuno with a clueless tone, cocking her head to the side.**_

"_**Well…" started the female, scratching her head, "Your mother, she's in China right now, and I went to visit her."**_

"_**Oh, what'd she say, Obaa-chan? What'd she say?" Sakuno tugged her grandmother's sleeve, and Sumire gave a heart and shallow laugh.**_

"_**Your mother said she's doing all right in China, visiting her relatives and friends. So when I came back, I thought you might wanted a souvenir from China. I hope you like dolls." Behind her back she revealed the same doll from eight years ago; new and neatly packaged in a bamboo box.**_

"_**It's pretty!" exclaimed Sakuno with happiness as she accepted the box. She jumped into her grandmother's arms and hugged her tightly, holding the doll with her left hand.**_

"_**Thank you so much, Obaa-chan!"**_

"Oh, Sakuno. I'm sorry…" apologized Tomoka as she bowed. Sakuno waved her hands in front of her frantically, changing the sound of her voice. "It's nothing, Tomo-chan! Really! I need to let it all out anyway!"

"So you're not going to throw it away?" asked Tomoka as she handed her a rag to clean the old doll. Sakuno shook her head and simply said, "No. Obaa-chan gave it to me because she thought I was lonely. I'm really happy." Tomoka watched in awe as Sakuno affectionately rubbed a dust spot off the doll's pale cheek and smiled, relaxing.

"Sakuno! Tomoka! I made some snacks!" cried Sumire from the first floor, cupping her hands so that they could hear her.

"OK!" shouted back the two girls, and the two of them got up from their sitting positions and headed out the door and down the stairs. Sakuno was a little slower however, as she continued to clean the fragile article.

"Sakuno, come on! I'm hungry!" wailed Tomoka, teasing her slightly. Sakuno nodded her head and said, "You go first without me."

"OK, but hurry down, alright?"

"OK, Tomo-chan."

As she watched her friend head downstairs, she gave one last look at the China doll. Her expression was still the same, serious one, but Sakuno felt happy. Hugging it tightly, she carefully placed it on her bed and ran out of her room to join her grandmother and friend in eating. The doll continued to stand firmly on the podium, growing from a small child, and blossoming into a mature, beautiful woman.

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_Owari_  
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**A/N:** The doll's description was based off my own China doll; and the fact about Sakuno's mother being a bit Chinese is not true. And this is **dedicated to Ahotep**. Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!


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